The invention relates to a stringed instrument, and more particularly, to a neck attached to a sound box for supporting strings of a guitar.
A usual stringed instrument has a neck body on which a finger board supporting frets is mounted and which has its one end integrally connected with a peg head and its other end formed with an integral limb for connection with the sound box. The requirement on the neck is its high strength which is sufficient to withstand a high tension in the strings and to prevent the strains from occurring over a prolonged period of use. On the other hand, it is desired that the acoustic attenuation be minimized in view of the delicate influence upon the tone quality. A conventional neck comprises a solid member formed of a maple-tree. However, a high degree of skill and experience is required in the selection of the grain or its orientation when cutting the wood into a square timber or slab and cutting the latter into the form of the neck. The final quality of the resulting products is greatly influenced by such skill if they are formed from the single wood. Another difficulty with the conventional neck material is the tremendous length of the seasoning period required from the lumbering of the wood until a product is finished. When producing an ordinary class product, the seasoning period by natural drying will be nearly three years at the wood level, two years at the timber or slab level and about one year after a rough machining. This implies the necessity of paying an attentive consideration to the procurement of the wood and the control over the production steps. Though the natural drying may be replaced by a forced drying, it is highly desirable to have the natural seasoning period at the wood and the timber levels in order to minimize the strains which might be caused by the aging effect. A further disadvantage which occurs with the use of the solid neck material is the low proportion of the volume of the product as compared with the required timber volume, meaning a low yield.
Additional disadvantage of the conventional neck is the use of an iron or stainless steel reinforcing rod which is disposed longitudinally thereof along the centerline in order to prevent strains. This increases the overall weight of the instrument.